US telecoms firm Sprint will reportedly replace CEO after regulatory
challenges see it axe bid for rival T-Mobile

Shares in US telecoms giant Sprint fell on Tuesday night on reports that it had ended talks to buy rival T-Mobile US for $30bn and will replace its chief executive.

Sprint's stock dropped 3.9pc in after-hours trading after Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal claimed that the company had ended its months-long chase for T-Mobile US. T-Mobile's shares fell 5.6pc after-hours.

Sprint, the third-largest US carrier, allegedly saw the regulatory challenges connected to a deal with T-Mobile, the fourth largest US carrier, as too big.

Sprint had hoped to complete a deal in order to compete with Verizon and AT&T, but the US Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice have both said they want at least four carriers to encourage competition.

Bloomberg claimed that Sprint would name a new chief executive to replace Dan Hesse as soon as Wednesday.

It came just hours after reports T-Mobile had refused to discuss a bid from French telecom operator Iliad, which tried to gatecrash the deal with Sprint. Iliad had proposed an offer of $15bn for 56.6pc of T-Mobile, which is controlled by Germany's Deutsche Telekom.